Umbrellas and tents are well known in the art, and various umbrellas and tents exist in general. Umbrellas that have a two tier covering in which one tier at least slightly overlaps the other tier also exist. Devices that serve both purposes as an umbrella and a tent do exist. However, the challenge with these dual functioning devices is to make them conveniently portable, easy to use, and easy to switch between different use position(s) and storage position(s). The need and desire to continue to make them more convenient to set up, use, collapse, switch between positions, and/or to be very portable and to improve their overall functionality and operation still exist.
The uses for such a portable and convenient dual functioning device are numerous. Such uses include but are not limited to serving as temporary umbrellas and shelters for the homeless, for folks in disaster recovery areas, for people in third world countries that do not have the resources to build permanent homes/structures, and can also be used for recreational purposes and applications as well (e.g., for the beach, camping, etc.). For example, in the case of a homeless person, he/she would use an umbrella, rain gear, cardboard or cardboard box structure or have to go under bridges/overpasses to seek temporary relief/shelter when the weather gets bad (e.g., starts raining). A homeless person also has belongings to carry, no he/she may have a backpack or a cart (e.g., shopping cart) to be able carry his/her things around. In addition, folks who are homeless may separately carry an umbrella to anticipate weather conditions and a tent for a place to sleep. Thus, a homeless person is generally set up and operates in ways to be very mobile. Such a device would also be desired and/or needed to be made inexpensively because of its type of portable uses and applications and because the market for such a device would generally warrant a relatively inexpensive product.
Therefore, the need and desire for a very easy to use and store, versatile, inexpensive, highly mobile, portable combination umbrella and tent exist.